Shooting Stars and Seismic Stripes
by Tiptory
Summary: The Captain wanted to see shooting stars, instead one falls in his lap. Not only does he have to adapt to the 21st century, he has to teach a star-coralian symbiot how to be human. And maybe she can teach him how to be free. StevexOC


**Well hey there! This is my first attempt at writing an Avengers fic. I just felt the need to since I really liked the characters and the universe it is set in. I decided on zooming in on focusing on Captain America/ Steve Rogers since I felt his story was the least explored of the three. I know his movie covered it, but I was really wanting to see his adaptation to our time period. Also he had no 'cannon' love intrest in the current time, so I though why not. So yes it will be a StevexOC, but I want it to be a slow build, and not a Twilight affair... So I am trying my best to write this charter to not be mary sueish, but still be interesting. So I hope you enjoy their adventure.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Falling Stars

"Good morning and hello! I'm Mia Schaeffer, here to bring you the latest news going on today" The happy news caster paused for a moment to adjust her note cards and flick a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear.

"Today marks the three month anniversary since the Avengers helped take down the alien invasion that took place in New York." The screen off to her right quickly switched between various clips of police and military aiding citizens while the Avengers were contending with the Chitauri.

"According to Governor Stanley Mason, the Manhattan RE=Build project is in full swing after assessing damages to be in the Trillions. Damages include several skyscrapers having to be completely demolished and rebuilt along with many street level establishments. The most devastating being the damage done to national landmark, Grand Central Station." Images of a damaged Grand central accompanied her account.

"I'll pass it off to the live press conference with Police Commissioner Robert O'Malley"

Cutting from the newsroom was to the large conference hall at the New York Police Department Headquarters at 1 P-P plaza. Standing at a mahogany lectern with the NYPD emblem mounted on the front was the Police Commissioner in his full uniform and regalia.

"Hello. I would first like to start off with thanks to all the outside support New York has received in our time of crisis. It really means a lot to the people of New York, and it will help carry us through the rebuild period and bring N.Y. to her former glory.

I also want to send my condolences to all the families, who have lost love ones in this event. We are still in the process of trying to find survivors and missing persons and if you have a child, that that has been missing since the event, please call the Lost Lambs hotline to receive information on which of the refugee sites your child can be found at." After giving more news on the Re=Build project and answering questions, the police commissioner stepped down.

Cutting back to the newsroom, Mia straightened up and directed her gaze back to the camera. "Now on a more upbeat note, tonight is also going to be the long awaited Calisto Star Shower! Starting at 10:23 PM EST there will be a brief star shower viewable all across the eastern seaboard. So get up on the roof and watch the show! I'm Mia Schaeffer, from Channel 9 News New York. Have a safe commute and see you later at Noon."

* * *

Captain Rogers hit the off button on the TV remote, one of the few things he had managed to figure out how to work. The news had pretty much been the same since he had been released form S.H.E.I.L.D's medical wing on their mobile airplane carrier. News on the Chitauri attack, public opinion on the Avengers, vigils and services for the loss of loved ones. It had been by the grace of God that at least Steve did not have to attend Coulson's funeral.

Luck have that the med team had prematurely ruled Coulson dead, but when brought to the medical wing, he had be resuscitated and Steve made sure that when he first woke, Coulson would be greeted to his set of Captain America cards, all signed.

After making sure Phil was okay, and finishing his medical examinations, Steve requested to take a short leave from on call duty from S.H.E.I.L.D. Deciding that he had very much earned a leave, especially after handling an alien invasion only a week after regaining consciousness from being frozen, Director Fury managed to call in a favor to a former agent now realtor and get the Captain a small private brownstone in his home neighborhood of Brooklyn.

At first he wanted to refuse, he had no need for and entire townhouse to himself, but after some convincing, they both settled on him at least buying the brownstone with the money that he had in his account, which had acquired interest over the 70 years of being 'inactive', giving him more than enough to pay off the full mortgage.

Knowing that he had a permanent residence that he owned gave him some comfort. His outfitting his new place became a pet project for him for the first two months of his leave.

Steve's first plan was to repaint the whole place and update the heating and plumbing. Tony came over to help him with the electrical and installing a security system, though it took the Captain punching a hole in the wall to convince Tony not to take over decorating and filling his home with all of his high tech flare.

After getting the technical done, Steve moved on to acquiring furniture and fixtures. He wanted to recreate the familiar feel of his time, but still incorporate the present, so with the help of Pepper, he managed to get kitchen and bathroom fixtures that were modern, but had a 'vintage' flare.

The kitchen had been fitted out with a kitchen island, a large old fashion sink, a double oven, and a grill style stove top. A 1950's style fridge with added water and icemaker, with a matching dishwasher and trash compactor, something that Pepper insisted he'd invest in.

The living room and den also received the same treatment, all the furniture from the 40's, that he bought from an estate sale and had reupholstered to all match. The only thing that stood out was the plasma screen he had set up.

The second and third floor had four rooms, two on each floor and a bathroom. One of the rooms was the master bedroom that had its own bath and a large walk in closet. The Captain decided on keeping two of the rooms as guest rooms, while taking the last room and converting it into a studio for him to paint in. He got several foldable easels, a workhorse, a slop sink and model props put in along with a full stock of all his preferred mediums.

By the end of the two months, he had the townhouse fully remodeled. He also managed to have the basement converted into a small gym. The only part of the house that needed some work was the attic room, but Steve decided that it was enough to put a small bathroom up there and leave that for another time.

That had been five days ago. He tried to keep him self occupied, when in reality he was really just distracting himself with fully coming to terms with his predicament. He would go up to his studio and try to paint, but nothing would come to him only memories of the time he left behind. He would paint small portraits or his team members, Bucky, Peggy…

He would go out and spend the day visiting his favorite places, only to see them either gone, or something else entirely. All he was really doing was dredging up memories of things that he can no longer have.

Sitting up from the sofa, the Captain went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast. He kept it simple since he was no real wiz in the kitchen, but he knew enough to get by. Since the serum made him have an increased appetite, he would have to make large meals, so he consumed a carton of eggs in one meal as well as a whole package of bacon, six slices of buttered and jam toast and a whole gallon of orange juice.

It was almost comical. One would think with the large home and him making such a large breakfast that he was living here with someone, and not alone. But whom could he turn to? He may have the body of an Adonis with the looks to match, but he still was the frail man he was before the serum. He still had trouble-understanding women and was too shy to really ask any out on a date.

He also still had feeling for Peggy. He knew that by now she was an old woman, but he felt that guilt built up inside, He never was able to make that dance…

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Steve finished up breakfast and put the dishes in the dish bin in the sink to soak till evening. He never used the dishwasher; too afraid he might break it trying to figure out how it worked, he went through two microwaves doing that,

After clearing off the kitchen table, he went to the gym to kill off some energy for a few hours. After getting a through workout, he came back upstairs to shower and prepare lunch. A plate full of pressed ham and cheese sandwiches, a bowl of grapes, and a pitcher of milk seemed like a good lunch to him.

While cleaning up the dishes from lunch and breakfast, Steve remembered the news saying that there was going to be a star shower around nine. Glancing over at the clock on the wall reading 4:37pm, he dried his hands and decided to kill some time reading. Agent Coulson was sure to send him books that caught him up on American history.

It was strange reading about events that he was there for. All accounts of his actions and HYDRA were completely stricken from the public record, he was passed off as a purely fictional character that was born from the nationalistic tendencies of a bygone era.

It sadden him a little to be written off in such a manner, but he was happy that he was able to help in the overall victory of war. All the technological advancements really shocked him. From high-speed jets, the Internet, cellular phones, computers, laptops, all of this technology getting smaller and faster, even the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. So much has happened while he was in the ice.

'Regimes fall everyday' now seemed even truer.

Finishing up a chapter on the end of the Civil Rights movement, Steve dog-eared the page he was on and placed the book on the coffee table. Grabbing his bomber jacket, he made his way to the garage. He figured the best place to see a star shower would be somewhere away from the bright city lights. And he knew the perfect place, deciding against riding his Harley, he thought now would be the perfect time to break in his 1945 Ford convertible.

It was a relic just after his time, but it's familiar design still held some nostalgia for him. After removing the dust jacket and popping down the roof, he pulled out the driveway and began the long drive to a particular field in upstate New York.

* * *

Driving was something that relaxed Steve. It was something that no matter how many years pass, it would always remain the same. Watching the dense buildings and busy streets slowly give way to big empty expanses of farmland was something that also seemed unchanged since the 1940's.

There was one particular field he was looking for. It was the one his parents took him to when they were still alive. It was a large wheat field that had a long winding stonewall. In the middle of the field was a medium sized rock plateau that rose up from the ground four or five feet. His father showed him the rock and told him that it was where he proposed to his mother and where they first made love. It was also the rock he brought his mother to when he decided he would name him 'Steve'. That rock would be the perfect place to watch the star shower.

As the sun began to set he parked his car of to the side of the wooden fence, the Captain got out, hoped over the side of the fence and began to comb his way through the stalks of wheat. Using a small compass he had on him, he managed to make it to the center of the wheat field that opened up into a small clearing.

In the middle of the clearing stood the plateau just as he remembered it, a bit smaller, but still the same. He was about to make his way to the rock when he heard something shuffling in the tall wheat.

He quickly braced himself. "Whose there?" He paused to look around, straining his ears to pick up any sign of movement. "C'mon out! I won't hurt ya! I just want to know who else is here!" A minute or two passed before he picked out the faint sounds of the wheat moving, and light footfalls off to his right.

He was expecting it to be a S.H.E.I.L.D agent that was probably sent to keep tabs on him. He was anticipating agent Romanov to step out from the wheat, however he was shocked when a small girl slowly and hesitantly crept out.

He turned himself to face her head on and relaxed his muscles. The girl nervously met his gaze, her body poised, ready for the first sign of danger to dart back into the safety of the tall wheat.

She was short, clad in only a thin rumpled sundress, barefoot. The dress and her dark olive skin were covered in soot and dirt, and her shoulder length hair was messy and wild, all the signs of a person who had no place to call home. Making sure his movements were slow, he walked over to the girl.

"Hey there "He stopped a few paces before her when she visibly tensed. "I'm sorry to have scared you, but to be honest you kinda scared me a little" He chuckled, trying to ease the tension. The girl still was not relaxed; the look in her brown eyes was a mixture of fear and primal instinct.

Seeing that he was failing at reassuring her, he opted for plan 'B'. Reaching into his pocket he fished out a small fun size Snickers bar and held it out to her.

"How about some chocolate?"

At the mention of food her eyes perked up and she quickly closed the distance and snatched up the treat, ripping it open on the spot and devouring its sugary goodness. After licking her fingers and the wrapper clean she turned back to the Captain. He found the act slightly amusing but saddening at the same time. How long has it been since she's last eaten?

"So, What's your name?" Silence, she looked at him. "Do you have a family? They must be worried"

She shook her head and began to fumble with something around her neck inside her dress. She pulled out a small worn out note pad that was hanging on her neck, under her dress. She pulled out a small pencil from the metal spiral, flipped it to a blank page, and began to jot something down.

She finished and handed the notepad to him. Looking from her to the notepad he'd been given, he read what was written in shaky letters:

'I not remember.'

"You can't remember them?" She nodded. He looked back down at the note pad, then again back at the girl. She did not seem to be saddened by the admittance, which was odd for someone as young as she looked.

"So you can't talk either?" She shook her head and gestured to her throat. "What about your name?"

She shook her head again and tapped the notepad twice. "You don't remember?"

She nodded. "How old are you? Do you know that?"

She grabbed the notepad from him and jotted something else down. "I not know. 18 maybe.

"Maybe? How are you sure?" Steve looked her over and she looked too small for 18, but he did notice on closer inspection she did have breasts, small ones, but they were there.

She flipped to the first page of her notepad and showed it to him. It was pretty beat up and difficult to make out but he could tell it was a sort of contact card. The name, address, telephone had been ripped away, but the birthdate was still legible. December 1993, the day was heavily smudged out.

So she was homeless, hungry, and had no memory of her name or her family, and in the middle of a wheat field. "What are you doing here?"

She pointed up to the sky. "You came to see the star shower?" She nodded. He gave a soft chuckle. It wouldn't be bad to have some company; even though she could not talk she seemed nice enough. After the star shower he could get her some food and drop her off at the police station so that they could help her.

He felt a tug on his shirt and realized she was trying to get his attention. "Yeah kiddo?" She placed her hand on his chest and tapped it twice. He raised his eyebrow, confused by the gesture.

Reading his confusion she grabbed her notepad and flipped back to the page she was using and wrote 'Name' and tapped his chest twice again.

"Oh you want to know my name" She nodded. "Well uh, it's Steve. Steve Rogers"

She paused, taking in his name. He watched her lips silently move through the syllables of his name, trying her best to mimic the proper mouth movements.

The hand that was still resting on his chest moved to rest over his heart. She could feel him tense up, Steve was not used to this sort of contact, especially from someone of the opposite sex. After feeling for a few beats, he took her hand and gently removed it. "Eh he, yeah I got a pretty healthy heart."

Looking up he realized the sun had already set, and looking down at his watch it was already nine o'clock, meaning the star shower would be starting any minute. He squeezed the girl's hand. "Hey, you wanna watch the star shower with me?" She thought about for a moment before nodding and following him over to the large rock. After helping her up the side, Steve hoisted himself up. He could see the entire wheat field until in started to disappear over the horizon.

The girl had already made herself comfortable on the rocky surface, waiting for Steve to join her. Even though she was settled on the ground, it just did not seem right for her to be sitting on the bare ground, she probably was very much used to it, but while she was with him, he wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

Shrugging off his jacket he laid it flat on the ground and gestured for her to sit on it. She looked at the jacket then back to Steve, unsure if it really was okay. "Don't worry, its only proper that a man offer his coat to a lady", He found himself smiling when she shyly crawled on top of it resting slightly on the edge of it. She patted the space next to her fro him to join her on the jacket.

He sighed. "I just can't win with you"

Joining her, he sat with his feet firmly planted on the ground and his knees slightly drawn up. If he thought earlier was a bit uncomfortable, this was a whole new level. He was press up against her side, with his thigh pressing against hers. It was comical that with in the span of 30 minutes he has gotten more intimate, and done everything short of kissing, with a strange mute girl, than he ever did with any other women with the exception of Peggy, and that one secretary.

Overhead the first few stars began shooting over them. It was something that really astounded him. Little stars soring across the night sky, looking like fire works. Next to him he watched as the girl jumped up and started to dance, Her hands stretched up to the sky as if she was trying to catch the falling stars.

She looked so enthralled, unafraid to show her joy and wonder; something he noticed was different about this time period. He watched her expression change from excitement, to joy, wonder, and curiosity. It was probably due to not being able to communicate verbally; she made up for it by expressing her emotions in their rawest form.

The last of the stars fell overhead till none were left. "Looks like the showers are done" He got up and walked over the edge of the plateau, looking over the fields. "But they sure looked nice. How about I take you to-"

She was not paying attention to anything that he was saying and seemed to be focused on something on the sky. Following her gaze, he saw a bright dot in the sky, brighter than the rest. The dot was getting bigger and bigger until he realized that it was not getting bigger, but getting closer at an alarming rate.

The glowing dot zoomed closer and closer till he grasped that it was heading straight for them. The next few seconds felt like they were stretched out to full blown hours as he watched the dot zip across the fields heading straight for the girl.

Steve turned on his heel trying to get over to her and push her out of the way, his limbs feeling like they were weighed down with blocks of lead. He watched in horror as the beam shot right into her, her body absorbing the gold light and gaining its glow. She floated for a brief couple of seconds, her eyes wide and full of disbelief and fear before she burst into dozens of glowing gold particles.

He was paralyzed. He could not bring himself to believe what he just saw. He just watched as a mute homeless girl was completely obliterated by a ray of light, and he did nothing to stop it. "Kiddo?" He found himself calling out for her, feeling the salty sting of tears, threatening to spill over. He clawed at the air where she was, trying to grab at the remnants of the glowing specks, hoping it would be enough to bring her back. Realizing he was not making any progress he finally gave up, letting out a choked sob.

"Kiddo!"

The floating specks began to grow in number and shine brighter. He watched as they gathered together, creating a flash of light that caused Steve to shield his eyes from the flare. After the light died down, he opened his eyes to see the girl standing where she was moments ago albeit glowing and devoid of her clothing.

She seemed as equally confused as he was as she looked down at herself, examining her hands. "H-hey?" Her head shot up as she realized she was not alone. He cautiously took a step toward her to take a small skip backwards, floating off the edge of the plateau. "W-wait!" He tried his best to calm her down, feeling he was back to square one with her. "It's me, s-see? Steve. Remember?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, before slowly opening them while gliding over to him, gently taking his face into her hands. She looked into his eyes, searching his blue ones while he searched her glowing gold ones; trying to find something, something, what, he did not know. Her hands moved down to his chest, her eyes widening for a moment as she began to remember.

He grabbed her hand, like before and held it, giving it a small squeeze. "I'm Steve. Remember?" She looked at her hand in his, and then back at him Her lips moved, trying her hardest to imitate his. "R-r-re… ?" Steve's eyes widened. She spoke! She actually spoke. "Yeah! Do you remember me? Steve?"

She squinted her eyes, her lips again trying to familiarize itself with the proper positions. "S-s-st-Steve?" She gradually lowered herself to the ground and her skin steadily lost the golden glow till she was standing just as she was earlier.

Steve let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding, placing his hands on her shoulders and using her to keep himself from collapsing, his les had went to jelly on him. After a few moments of trying to catch his breath, he stared ahead of him only to immediately revert his gaze back to the ground and swiftly backpedal away from her, his face burning with embarrassment.

It was when his eyes met her bare breasts that he remembered that he was holding onto a naked woman, out in the open. He covered his eyes as he reached over to pick up his jacket and blindly try to hand it to her. "Here put this on. A lady should not be so…bare in the presence of a man"

She stared at the strange garment. Taking it cautiously from his hand she sniffed it, taking in the Captains scent along with the smell of his cologne. She tried to put it on her head, but the garment slid off and fell to the ground. Realizing that she did not know how to put on the garment she sought help from its owner.

After a few minutes of blindly trying to get the jacket onto her while maintaining so form of gentlemanly dignity Steve was finally able to uncover his eyes and look at the girl without feeling completely uncomfortable. The jacket consumed her and came down to her mid thigh, but it did the job of at least covering up the important parts. He officially now had been more intimate with this girl, the first time seeing a naked woman, and he only knew her for an hour. What kind of pervert has he become?

More important that his current moral dilemma was the issue of what he was going to do with her? It was safe to say that his original plan of getting her food and dropping her off at the police station was shot. He couldn't just leave her there like this, glowing with alien powers from a beam of light, naked and even more confused and lost than she was when he found her.

They'd probably send her to a lab the moment they found out, lock her away and experiment on her. Since she had no memory and no family, no one would miss her or notice she was gone.

Just like he was going to be at one point.

The whole dilemma was striking a tender cord within the super soldier. She was alone in a world that she does not understand, no one to help her. All she had was him.

Taking her hand in his, he made his resolve. He was going to help her; it was his duty as a soldier to help his nations people. He was going to do everything in his power to keep her from becoming a lab experiment, and to give her the best that this world could offer.

"C'mon lets go. We'll go to my place and get you cleaned up" He playfully poked her stomach. "And get some food in that belly, because I don't know about you, but I can just about eat a horse right about now" She was at first confused by the gesture, but came to understand his intent and gave a small smile and squeeze of his hand.

Following the path he made through the wheat, Steve and the girl were able to make it to his car, still parked by the wooden fence. He fumbled around in his pants pockets trying to find his keys while the girl circled around the vehicle in excited curiosity.

She ran her fingers along the smooth navy surface of the rear door, the windows, crawling on al fours to sniff the tail pipe, scrunching up her face when she caught the unpleasant odor. Steve stifled his laugh as best as he could while he searched for his keys. It really was cute how she examined foreign things with all of her senses.

Realizing his keys were not in his pants pockets, he reckoned he left them in his jacket. "Hey, c'mer for a second." She skipped over to him. "I'm sorry to ask this, but would you mind if I look in the pocks to see if the keys to the car are in there?" he asked while pointing to the jacket.

She gave a curt not and allowed him to check the pockets. He bent over, his body towering over hers, searching the left pocket. Nothing there. He started to move to the next pocket when he felt warm moist breath on his neck. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the girl, straining on her tiptoes she was curiously sniffing his neck. Shivers ran down his spine as he could just barely feel her nose graze his jugular.

He hastily moved his head and continued his search for the keys in her other pocket while desperately trying to hide the burning blush on his cheeks. "Ya know, it not nice to sniff people like that". He pulled away, realizing the keys were nowhere on the girl meaning…

He locked the keys into the car.

Walking over to the divers side door with the girl in tow, he could see the keys on the drivers seat. He really didn't want to do this, but he was going to have to break the glass to get them. It was just a window, something that could be easily repaired. "Stand back, I need to break the window to get the keys" He reared his fist back ready to punch through when the girl quietly reached out to stop his fist.

He turned his attention to her. She shook her head and pushed his fist down. She walked over to the car and placed her palms flat against the cool glass, peering inside to locate the keys. Once locating them, she pressed forward as her body once again started to glow from her. Without any warning she passed right through the metal body of the car chassis. After getting her body completely into the car she brought her legs up and curled up in the drivers seat. She reached down, grabbed the keys and passed the through the closed window, holding them out to Steve.

To say he was dumbstruck was to say the least. The captain has seen many a strange sight, even more so in this time period. He thought seeing seas based heli-carrier take flight and go invisible was a modern marvel. Meeting the real Norse god Thor and Loki, witnessing an alien invasion, watching a human be dissolved by starlight, all these wonders should have numbed him from ever being shocked again. But there were things that still amazed him, and one of them was sitting in his car, holding out his keys to him in their glowing hand.

Steve gingerly extended his hand to accept them from her, his fingers brushing right through both the keys and her fingers. It was a bizarre tingling, warm, but slightly numbing at the same time. Understanding he could not physically grasp his keys he held his hand out under hers.

"I uh…" She abruptly dropped the keys and pulled her hand back into the car, her body once again regaining its former pigmentation. The keys landed solidly in his hand, and he used the to finally open the door.

After getting the girl situated in the passenger seat and buckled up, Steve realized something. "You need a name" She looked back at him quizzically. He took a moment to think of a good name, he was not familiar with girl names. The only names coming up were his mother's, Sarah, and Peggy. He searched his memory for a name that fit.

"Maeve" He remembered reading a poem when he was younger about a star, all he could remember was the first name of the author. "What do you think, Maeve?" She sounded the syllables on her lips wordlessly. Her eyes lit up as she eagerly nodded her head. Turning the key in the ignition he turned to her and gave her a quick pat on the head.

"Maeve it is then."

With that he started the long drive home, his mind racing with questions, but one thing was certain. She maybe alone in the world, but she could count on him, and maybe, he could count on her.

* * *

**So that wraps up chapter one. Yeah I know, super long by average standards. But I really wanted to set the pace of the story, and this was the best place to cut it. So you can review or PM your questions, concerns, and frustrations on anything in the story. And I am looking for a beta or two, and please only offer if you can respond on at least a weekly basis.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


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